News

Channel 40

When travelling on the Canning Stock Route be sure to use
Channel 40 to call ahead your journey and when approaching high
sand dues. It is important for all travellers not to clog up the
channel with general chatter. We recommend the use hand-held
radios to talk between vehicles travelling in a group.

Sand flags

It is essential all vehicles travelling on the Canning Stock
Route have sand flags attached. This assists in reducing the
likelihood of colliding with other vehicles crossing the high
dunes.

Bush camping is available at Lake Stretch

A Paruku IPA permit is required. $30/vehicle 1st
night, $10/vehicle additional nights. This also gives access to the
275km Lake Gregory loop track and two other Lake Gregory
Campsites.

Birriliburu Indigenous Protected Area stretches over 6.6 million
hectares of striking desert from the nationally significant
Carnarvon Range to Constance Headland along Western Australia's
famous Canning Stock Route.

All of this country belongs to the Birriliburu native title
holders whose connection with country has been woven over 25,000
years and continues to this day.

Birriliburu Indigenous Protected Area is astonishingly diverse,
ranging from sand dunes and sandstone mountain ranges to salt lakes
and claypans. It covers three bio-geographic regions of Australia
â€" the Little Sandy Desert, Gibson Desert and the Gascoyne.

The area is home to a high number of nationally significant
species such as the black- flanked rock wallaby, great desert
skink, and marsupial mole to name just a few.

The traditional owners call the Carnarvon Range
Katjarra in their language.

Found in the south-west of Birriliburu Indigenous Protected
Area, the spectacular sandstone ranges have been the subject of a
nationally significant natural and cultural heritage asset survey
in 2012 and 2013 which has recorded their diverse plant and animal
life and cultural heritage including hundreds of ancient rock art
galleries.

Katjarra is so significant that the Birriliburu
traditional owners nominated it as the site for their native title
ceremony in 2008.

Constance Headland, called Mungarlu, is the largest and
most dependable water source in the area and, like
Katjarra, is remarkable for the quantity of rock art found
in its long valleys. Many threatened species including the greater
bilby are found here.

The last of the Birriliburu traditional owners to live
completely 'on country' walked out of the desert in 1977. The old
couple, as they are known, were found living at Karri Ngarri
claypan in the east of the Indigenous Protected Area. Their story
is told in the book and film Last of the Nomads.

Today this area serves Birriliburu traditional owners as a
reminder of generations that have gone before them.

In the south-east of Birriliburu Indigenous Protected Area is
the Mungilli Nature Reserve. State-listed for its mythological
significance for traditional owners, the Mungilli claypan's
ephemeral wetlands are a highly valuable refuge for desert plants
and animals.

Adjacent to the nature reserve at Mungilli outstation, a family
group of traditional owners owns and runs a sustainable sandalwood
harvesting operation.

Traditional owners plan to sustainably manage their country's
resources for economic and social outcomes. It is hoped new tourism
enterprises can also be developed as part of a future mix of
sustainable Indigenous businesses.

With its dedication as an Indigenous Protected Area in April
2013, Birriliburu becomes part of Australia's National Reserve
System, ensuring future generations will continue to enjoy this
amazing landscape.

Birriliburu Indigenous Protected Area's plan of management will
provide direction to a new Indigenous ranger team who will
undertake a number of on-ground activities including feral animal
and weed control and traditional fire management.

Birriliburu Indigenous Protected Area will be managed under the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Categories
III and VI which utilise traditional resource management to support
the conservation of specific natural features and the sustainable
use of natural ecosystems.